A cannabis research company is asking a Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) judge to allow it to add a young medical marijuana patient and advocate as a witness in an upcoming hearing on the Biden administration's proposal to reschedule the drug.
In a letter brief sent to DEA Administrative Law Judge (ALJ) John Mulrooney on Friday, Cannabis Bioscience International Holdings (CBIH) said that Alexis Bortell would "exclusively be a fact witness" who would speak to her experience dealing with intractable epilepsy that benefits from marijuana she's federally prohibited from accessing.
"Ms. Bortell's life story is incredibly compelling, and she is the exact gravamen and crux at the heart of these proceedings," CBIH said. "Ms. Bortell has suffered greatly in her life, as a young child and to present, having to endure decades of acute severities due to the still current Schedule I illegal federal status of marijuana."
While the DEA judge said in a prehearing ruling that he is not inclined to accept any additional motions from designated participants, CBIH requested that he make an exception because it was only recently that they were able to reach Bortell and confirm her willingness to testify.
Read more at Marijuana Moment